Kinetoscope.



G. A. KNAAK.

KINETOSGOPE.

APPLIUATION FILED DE0.13,1907.

899,543, Patenten` Sept. 29, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

G. A. KNAAK.

KINETOSOOPB.

I APPLICATION FILED [)}C.13,1907. 899,543, Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

G. A. KNAAK.

KINETOSGOPE.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.13,1907.

899,514.3. Patented Sept. 29, 1908,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3` ,.U... nac.

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GEORGE A. KNAAK, OF OSHKOSI-I, WISCONSIN.

KINETOSCOPE.

Specification oi Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

Application filed December 13, 1907. Serial No. 406,282.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. KNAAK, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Oshkosh, in the county of Winnebago and State of Wisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Kinetoscopes 3 andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide simple and effectivefilm-feeding mechanism for kinetoscopes, the construction andarrangement being such that the film is intermittently fed past thelight-apertures of a machine at accurate intervals of time, and withoutoverthrow or vibration commonly resulting from the mechanisms noweniployed for feeding purposes.

The peculiar construction of the feedmechanism renders the employment ofa large diameter master sprocket-drum possible and the apertured film,which partially encircles the same, is thereby engaged by a greaternumber of teeth than would otherwise occur on a smaller drum, thus morefirmly and accurately holding the film against lateral play or overthrowincidental to the film being loosely fed from a loop. The saidconstruction also materially reduces the wear of the mechanism and Jdlmto a minimum.

The invention therefore consists in various structural features andcombinations of parts as hereinafter described with reference to theaccompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings: Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation of a portionof a kinetoscope embodying the features of my invention, the sectionbeing indicated by line 1&1 of Fig. 2 Fig. 2, a cross-section of thesame as indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detail section online 3 3 of Fig. 2, illustrating the intermittent driving-gear; Fig. 4,a 'fragmentary view of the frame showing a wear adjusting mechanism forthe intermittent driving-gear Fig. 5, a sectional view of same, asindicated by line 55 of Fig. 4 Fig. 6, an elevation of the frame lookingtowards the drive-side, showing the gear-train for transmitting the feedfrom the main drive-wheel, said gear-train being indicated by dottedlines, the shaft being in section; Fig. 7, a detail sectional view ofthe upper sprocket-drum and guide-roller which draws the film directlyfrom the reel, the section being indicated by line 7 7 of Fig. 1 Fig.

8, a face view of an apertured plate, behind which the film passes, theplate being illustrated in connection with a portion of the frame towhich it is hinged, with a fragment of said film in position thereunder,and Fig. 9, a face view of an apertured backing-plate, between which andthe first named plate the film passes.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A indicates a feed-mechanismsupporting-frame of a kinetoscope provided with the usual aperturedbacking-plate B and a hinged clamping-plate O, which plate iscoincidently apertured with the first named plate and is secured at itsfree side to the frame by a clamping-screw c, as shown in Fig. S of thedrawings. 'lhe backing-plate B is provided with a pair of longitudinalguide-rails b, which eX- tend slightly above its upper edge and aredisposed at either side of the aperture in said plate. The picture-filmD passes over these rails and is held in friction-contact therewith by apair of clamping-strips c which are connected to the clamping plate Cand each other, by means of cross-braces d, the shanks of the bracesbeing bent at right-angles thereto and are passed through openings inthe plate above and below` its aperture. A pair of leaf-springs arecentrally secured to the inner face of the clamping-plates and arealined with the clamping-strips, their free ends being arranged to eXertpressure upon said clamping-strips, by means of which pressuresufficient drag or tension is placed upon the film to prevent bucklingor slack as the same is fed between the plates. The upper ends of thestrips and rails terminate in oppositely disposed fiares to provide anunobstructed smooth throat for the entrance of the film, which film isalso guided at its edges b i disks d that are revolubly mounted upon arod secured in ears of the clamping-plate.

The picture-film D passes from a reel (not shown) under a smallsprocketdrum F, which drum serves as a feeder from thercel, the hlmbeing held thereto by a spring-controlled roller G. Said film is thenforwardly looped upon itself and thereafter passes downward between therails and clampingstrips of the plates, from which point it passes to amaster sprocket-drum H. The film is held in contact with the drivingfaces of the sprocket-drum for approximately a quarter of itscircumference or more, by means of the clamping-strips, which stripsextend downward for this purpose and are provided with slots e to permitpassage of the drum-teeth. The hlm upon leaving the master drum H isbent into a rearward loop which loop tends to press the film about saiddrum. The film then passes over a lower sprocket-drum l similar in sizeto the sprocket-drum F, said film being also held tothe lower drum by aspring-controlled roller J, from which roller it is free to fall orbetaken care of as desired. The master sprocket-drum H, which isapproximately twice the diameter of the upper and lower drums F, I,consists of a pair of sprocket-wheels spaced apart and connected by ahub f in such manner that the teeth thereon will mesh with apertures gin the edges of the film as is usual in machines of this class. Both ofthe smaller sprocketdrums are similar in construction to the masterdrum, being provided with teeth which engage the apertured edges of thefilm. The upper sprocket-drum F is fast on a driven stud K that ismounted in a bearing h of the frame at the drive-side thereof, while thelower drum l is secured to the main driveshaft L, which shaft isrevoluble in bearings of said frame at either side, both of saidsprocket-drums being positively driven at the same speed throughgear-trains to be described hereinafter. The hub f of the mastersprocket-drum H is loosely mounted upon an arbor M, which arbor is h Xedin bosses i, t" of the frame, said hub being extended to one side of thedrum and provided with a pair of.

three-toothed tappet-wheels N, N, upon different vertical planes andhaving their prongs staggered with relation to each other. Thetappet-wheels are arranged to-be actuated by semi-circular shoes O, O',fast on a constantly driven counter-shaft l), the faces of thetappet-wheel teeth being struck upon the same radii as the shoes, insuch manner, that while one of said shoes is describing approximately ahalf revolution and disengaged from its corresponding tappet the othershoe is nested upon the face of the tappet-wheel teeth upon which itoperates and thereby holds the sprocket-drum against rotation until suchtime as the opposite shoe engages a tooth of.

its tappet-wheel, which tooth is held in the path of said shoe up tothis time.

By the above described drive-mechanisms, it will be seen that with eachhalf revolution of the counter-shaft the master sprocketdrum is rotatedone-sixth of a revolution, thus producing a positively lockeddelaymovement of said drum sufficient to expose a picture at the properinterval of time over the light-aperture of the machine, overthrow beingimpossible provided a perfect fit between the shoes and the faces of thetappet-wheel teeth is attained. In order to accomplish this fit one endof the counter-shaft Pis mounted in the frame by means of an eccentricsleeve Q having a hand-lever R projecting therefrom whereby the sleevemay be partly rotated so as to draw the shoes in perfectly Jiittingposition relative to the curved faces of the tappet-wheel teeth, thelever being thereafter locked by means of a thumb-nut j which is inthreaded-connection with any one of a series of perforations k providedfor this purpose in a radial arm of the frame. The thumb-nut passesthrough a slotted wing m of the hand-lever, which wing constitutes asupplementary adjusting means in connection with the fixed adjustment ofsaid thumb-nut in any one of the perforations. The bearing in the framefor the countershaft, opposite the eccentric is flared slightly so thatsaid shaft will not bind therein when rocked slightly by the eccentricat its opposite end.

Lateral vibration or play of the master sprocket-drum is taken up by acoil-spring n which encircles a thimble 0 loosely mounted upon the arborM, the spring being interposed between the base fi and a collar of thethimble, which collar is thereby forced against the adjacent end of thesprocket-drum hub f, the spring-tension exerting pressure to hold theopposite end of said drum-hub against the face of the boss i of theframe.

Motion is imparted to the machine by a main driving gear-wheel 1, thatis loosely mounted upon the end of the fixed arbor lll, and hasprojecting from its hub a handcrank S, as shown in Fig. 2. Thisgearwheel meshes with an idle gear-wheel 2, that in turn drives agear-wheel 3 fast on the driving-stud K of the upper sprocket-drum F, bymeans of which said drum is rotated. The main driving gear-wheel l alsomeshes with a small gear-wheel 4 fast on the main drive-shaft L, therebeing a similar gearwheel 5 secured to the opposite end of said maindrive-shaft which meshes with a gearwheel 7 loosely mounted upon anadjacent end of the fixed arbor M, and is provided for transmittingmotion to the counter-shaft P through a gear-wheel 8 secured thereto,the said counter-shaft being also provided with a fly-wheel 9, as shown.

From the foregoing described combination of gearing properlyproportioned with relation to each other, it will be seen that the upperand lower slack loops of the film will remain constant and be taken careof by the respective sprocket drums. The master sprocket-drum inconsequence has only to exert sufficient strain on the film to feed thesame downward between the plates from one loop to the other at properlytimed intervals, the said master-drum being of such large proportionthat a sufHcient number of its teeth engage the apertures in the lm soas to distribute the pulling strain thereon over a larger area in such amanner that the film is not liable to be damaged, which would be thecase if the feeding was dependent on a few teeth, the intermittentdriving-gear at the same time insuring perfectly timed 1novements ofsaid ilm without vibration or overthrow.

I claim:

l. In a kinetoscope, a film-feed mechanism comprising a sprocket-drum, adrivenshaft parallel to the drum, a pair of oppositely disposedsemi-circular shoes secured to the shaft and oiset with relation to eachother, and a tappet-wheel for each shoe carried by the sprocket-drum,the teeth of one tappet-wheel being staggered with relation to the teethof the other tappet-wheel and the working-faces of the teeth of bothwheels shaped to conform to and engage with the semi-circular portionsof the shoes.

2. In a kinetoscope, a film-feed mechanism comprising a sprocket-drum, adriven: shaft parallel to the drum, a pair of oppositely disposedsemi-circular shoes secured to the driven shaft and offset with relationto each other, a tappet-wheel for each shoe carried by thesprocket-drum, the teeth of one tappetwheel being staggered withrelation to the teeth of the other tappet-wheel and the working-faces ofthe teeth of both wheels shaped to conform to and engage with thesemicircular portions of the shoes, and means in connection with thedriven-shaft for adjusting said shoes with relation. to saidtappetavheels.

3. ln a kinetoscope film-feed, a film-tension mechanism, constantlydriven film-feed sprockets above and below the tension mechanism, and afixed arbor intermediate of the lower film-feed sprocket and saidtension device, a sprocket-drum loosely mounted upon the arbortappet-wheels carried by the drum, a drive-shaft disposed parallel tothe fixed arbor, and actuating-shoes for the tappetwheels carried by thedrive-shaft.

4. ln a kinetoscope film-feed, a iilm-tension mechanism, film-drivingsprockets above and below the tension-mechanism, and a film-feedsprocket-drum located intermediate of said tension-mechanism and lowerfilm-driving sprocket, tappet-wheels carried by the 'film-feedsprocket-drum, a driveshaft disposed parallel to the sprocket-drum aXis,actuating shoes for the tappet-wheels carried by the drive-shaft, and acrank in gear-train connection with the drive-shaft and sprockets aboveand below the aforesaid tension-mechanism.

ln testimony that l claim the Jforegoing l have hereunto set my hand atOshkosh in the county of Vinnebago and State of illisconsin in thepresence of two witnesses.

GEORGE A. KNAAK.

Witnesses GEORGIA C. FREEBORN, CLAUDE A. FLEMING.

